Comfort food is most often associated with winter, when the wind is blowing and the snow is flying and the temperature is on the nippy side, usually below zero. But there can be times when the weather is nice, perhaps with temps in the 70s or 80s, that a hearty meal really hits the spot. That’s where I found myself …
Cooking for two can be a challenging. But as the old saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. For me, the biggest issue is leftovers. When our grandson, Rakeem, was in town and coming over for supper two to four times a week, it wasn’t that big a deal. But now that he’s gone away for …
There is nothing simpler to make than fried cabbage. And combine it with a little meat, and you have a meal in a skillet. My taste for cabbage runs the gamut when it comes to spiciness. I like it lightly seasoned with just salt and pepper — some might call this bland — or it can be relatively hot when it features …
I remember a couple of years ago, when my stepdaughter, Jessica, called from Cincinnati to get a recipe. My granddaughter, Naomi, wanted hotdish — the way Grandma makes it. Back when we were both still working, Therese used to make the tasty hotdish for our grandson, Rakeem, on Tuesdays, when I worked from 4 p.m. to midnight. In retirement, we continue …
Do you know what is the most popular seafood in America? If you guessed salmon or halibut, two of the most delicious and nutritious fish around, you would be wrong. Ditto with crab and lobster. Shrimp is the most popular seafood in America. In fact, it represents more than a quarter of the annual per capita seafood consumption in the United States. While …
Chicken and rice is a popular combination. In fact, some people would say it’s unbeatable. This simple pairing has been around for ages. After all, rice is a staple in many countries around the world, and chicken is probably more widely available than any other meat. The two go together like spaghetti and meatballs, or peanut butter and jelly. Recently, we …
Many of the healthiest diets that are being touted these days include fish. And there is good reason. Several kinds of fish and seafood contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to human health. But why are they essential? According to the Harvard School of Public Health and the Mayo Clinic, among others, omega-3 fats are special because they have been shown …
Mushrooms are one of those vegetables that you either love or hate. For those who dislike mushrooms, it’s usually texture that puts people off more than the taste, while it’s those same qualities that attracts those on the other side of the aisle. One of the reasons I like mushrooms so much is that they often absorb the flavor of the …
Cold weather and comfort food go together like bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti and meatballs. That’s why it wasn’t surprising to me to see a billboard ad this morning touting all the soup you can eat from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays at a local restaurant. After all, what’s more comforting when the temperatures are below …
There are a lot of jambalaya recipes floating around the internet. Just how many of them are authentic is anybody’s guess. The way I figure it, for a jambalaya recipe to be the real deal, it must be from someone with ties to Louisiana. The one I’m going to share with you today is just that. It comes from an old …
Shrimp scampi isn’t an entree most people would consider deer hunting camp fare. But they probably don’t know the Menard boys from Crookston, Minn., either. This past month, I made my fifth trip to Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge and to Tamarac Resort on Round Lake to join my cousins, Kim, Joe and Tom Menard — and Joe’s son, Matt — for …
A couple of weeks ago, I was wondering what to do with some leftover chicken, and with the temps in the teens, throwing together a stew came to mind. After all, stew has been known as a comfort food a long time. The following recipe is the result. I didn’t have to venture out to buy any of the ingredients, …
For most people, it’s hard to draw any comparisons to eating sauerkraut right out of the crock. That’s because making homemade sauerkraut is one of the things from the past that not may people do anymore. You can’t count my septuagenarian friend, Darrel Koehler in that group. Darrel has been making sauerkraut for years, something he learned from his parents …
Cabbage is a pretty popular vegetable among gardeners. It’s also one that knows no ethnic boundaries. For example, Germans and Koreans love fermented cabbage. In Germany, it’s called sauerkraut. In Korea, it’s kimchi. The Irish have a favorite dish, colcannon, which traditional dish of mashed potatoes mixed with boiled cabbage or kale and either bacon or ham. And Cabbage rolls are …
If you’re a gardener who grows a variety of vegetables, the classic Nicoise dish, ratatouille, should be right up your alley. The stewed vegetable entree consisting of eggplant, tomato, pepper, zucchini, onion and herbs has been has been a favorite in France for many, many years, but it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that ratatouille rose to the prominence it …
Salads are for summertime — especially if you have a garden. There’s nothing like a bunch of fresh veggies from the garden — all tossed together in a bowl and seasoned with a homemade vinaigrette — to start off a meal. With a nice crop of lettuce and kale in our garden, we’ve been enjoying fresh salads for going on three months now. …
How often have you heard someone say about a particular food, “It’s an acquired taste”? If you cook with nutrition in mind or raise a diverse garden like me, I would bet it’s more often than not. That’s not an indictment of mine or your tastes, but if it is, I plead guilty. It’s more of an acknowledgment that we are on the right track …
Smoked foods such as fish and meat make great appetizers. And when you do the smoking yourself, they seem even better. Recently, I smoked some salmon that was given to me by my brother-in-law, Dean Lutz, in my Masterbuilt electric smoker, which I purchased at Cabela’s about eight years ago. Over the years, I’ve smoked venison, pheasant, grouse and ducks as …
Most cooks have a handful of go-to recipes — the ones that you know will be a hit with whomever you are serving. I don’t have to think too hard to come up with mine, which include a couple of main courses, a sandwich, an appetizer and a dessert. My baked pheasant with wild rice dressing probably tops the list, followed closely by my …
What’s the most popular pie in America? It just depends on whose survey you’re viewing and where it’s being conducted. But in the majority of surveys, apple pie rules. The folks at NPR in 2012 named apple pie as the favorite of those they surveyed. And in a 2008 survey by Crisco and the American Pie Council, nearly one out of …
Cilantro is one of those herbs that doesn’t enjoy the popularity of others such as basil and dill, but for those who like Mexican and Asian cuisine, it ranks right up there on the likability scale. I’ve been hooked on cilantro ever since sampling some salsa several years ago that was made with the lacy green-leaves from the pungently flavored plant in …
It’s high school graduation season, and a lot of families are scrambling to prepare for parties for their soon-to-be graduates. Food is always at the center of these celebrations, and there are two routes that you can take: catered from a restaurant, supermarket or culinary service or do-it-yourself. We recently hosted our grandson Rakeem’s party, which was held early because of weekend …
There’s no doubt that Americans are in love with red meat. Ever since the early times of the United States, red meat has been one of the top five foods consumed by Americans. But the love affair between Americans and red meat has hit a roadblock in recent years. Several studies have pointed out that a diet high in red meat …
People who routinely bake a ham for a holiday meal usually don’t have any questions when it comes to leftovers. Ham or ham and cheese sandwiches are near the top of my list as well as a macaroni salad, the kind that might be served after a funeral. I also just like to nibble on a piece of ham as a …
Many people have fond memories of Easter Sunday dinners. Baked ham usually was the centerpiece of these feasts. If your mom or grandma fixed ham like mine, the meat was scored and studded with cloves, rubbed with brown sugar and sometimes a little mustard and finally baked until the whole house smelled heavenly. Over the years, I’ve made our Easter …
Anyone who has a I taste for the spicy, tangy and aromatic probably is a fan of Caribbean cuisine, a fusion of the foods of many cultures. The main dishes of the region typically are a mixture of vegetables such as peppers — bells and scotch bonnet to name two — tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, onions and garlic, various meats that …
Americans eat a lot of meat, more than any other place in the world. That’s a fact. If you were like me, meat was usually on the supper table at least four or five days a week. Perhaps living in a rural area of the country, where meat prices were lower, had something to do with that. Regardless of the reason, …
There are a lot people who relish leftovers. But there probably are just as many who view them as a nuisance. You can count me among the former. I believe there are a lot of leftovers that are better the second day. Chili, for one, comes to mind. It’s also a food that can’t really be made in small batches, especially …
Goulash has a long history, dating back to the ninth century in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Today, gulyás is one of Hungary’s national dishes. Without getting into too many specifics about the original version — the dish might be a little too much for those with a weak stomach — old-fashioned goulash featured meat that was cooked and dried (pemmican), stored in what we would consider …
Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, eating leftovers was a given for most blue-collar families, and roast beef hash was one of the dishes that many people point to as a go-to meal. As kids, my mom often would fix Dad, my brothers and I hash a day or two after having a Sunday roast beef dinner. To me, it …
Have you ever eaten a dish that seems to be intoxicating? I’m sure we all can name a dessert or two that would fit into that category, especially if it contains alcohol. Perhaps a cake recipe with beer, an ice cream sundae topped with wine-soaked fruits, dessert cocktails, ice pops made with wine. And even ones without booze, such as Better Than …
Anyone who is familiar with farming and has hunted in northwestern North Dakota knows about lentils. Williams and Divide counties are among the top producers of the legumes in the country. I’ve been chasing pheasants in the area for years but yet have never done much cooking with lentils, which are among the most versatile and nutritious foods available. (Lentils are a powerhouse of nutrition. They are …
There’s been an argument simmering over the years about whether chili should contain beans. To make a long story short, it depends on who you ask. In Texas, there’s a saying, “If you know beans about chili, it’s that there’s no beans in chili.” In other parts of the country, particularly in the North, beans are a staple. And, of …
Homemade soups are awfully hard to beat. And when eating out, there’s something soothing about knowing that a restaurant’s soup is made from scratch. Maybe the reason is that you are a soup maker yourself or your mom or dad was accomplished at that, too. Both are true in my case. I usually make a pot of soup at least three …
Some chefs have those “hanging out in the kitchen” moments with a grandparent or a mother. I did not. The style of food I grew up with was a budgeted one. The house bank account was structured that X amount of money went here or there, and that was that. So, when it came time for a purchase at the grocery …
As I write this, today is my last day of cooking in 2016. Soon after I type these words, I am off to the store to pick out flowers and some last-minute items to prepare a four-course meal for members of the Grand Forks Country Club. While many others will be celebrating the old and thinking of what needs to change …
I am not a big dessert guy. I rarely order them when I go out to dine, and putting a nice cake together isn’t a bug I get too often. Baking in general has never been my strong suit. I blame that only on myself. I have never spent as much time working on it as I do perfecting other …
No holiday celebration would be complete without finger food. And one that you might find on a lot of snack tables is the traditional party mix made with Wheat, Corn and Rice Chex cereals, mixed nuts, Cheerios and other crunchy goodies. We always had a good supply of party mix when I was growing up. Mom used to make a couple …
Nothing takes the chill off a cold winter day than a big bowl of soup. That’s probably been true since early man started throwing meat and vegetables in a pot over an open fire pit. One soup that’s been around a long time is borscht, which is derived from an ancient soup originally cooked from pickled stems, leaves and umbrels …
Traditions are what make holidays special. And food is a big part of that for most families. When I was growing up, Grandma — and later Mom — would make baked oysters for our big Thanksgiving Day celebration, which was attended by all my aunts, uncles and cousins on the Menard side of the family. Since then, the dish has become synonymous …
It’s hard to go wrong with mac ‘n’ cheese. That’s a saying that’s probably been said by many a mom when they’ve been contemplating what to make their kids for supper. One of the nicest things about this classic comfort food is that there are so many variations a cook will never run out options. Therese is generally the mac …
There’s hardly a better time to prepare a pot of stew than when bad winter weather is impending. And by the looks of the forecast here in the Northland, there’s no time to waste. Along with chili, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, just to name a few, there’s hardly a better comfort food for a blizzard than a bowl …
Fall can be a bittersweet time of the year for gardeners. Those who grow flowers and vegetables see what they’ve been caring for since late spring slowly — or quickly in the case of a hard frost — dying off. A couple of things can ease the pain a bit — the flower pots we bring in for the winter and …
There are some foods that are made to go together. Bacon and eggs. Peanut butter and jelly. Hamburgers and fries. Macaroni and cheese. Mashed potatoes and gravy. I’d like to add another combo to the list: Salmon loaf with creamed peas and potatoes, a pairing that’s been part of my food repertoire since my youth. As are many of the …